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Critical Thinking
Generalizations are statements that simplify complex situations or make unfair judgments about groups of people. Often, generalizations accuse everyone in a situation of acting the same way. Usually generalizations are untrue comments, but they can be useful if they make you think about how a difficult situation or problem affects others.
Different perspectives on the following generalizations will be examined in A Wrinkle in Time. Decide whether you consider each statement true or false. Be prepared to share and defend your anwers in a class discussion.
Different perspectives on the following generalizations will be examined in A Wrinkle in Time. Decide whether you consider each statement true or false. Be prepared to share and defend your anwers in a class discussion.
- Life is harder for those who do not fit in.
- One cannot experience true happiness unless one has also experienced sadness.
- The world would be safer if everyone were more alike.
- The world would be better if everyone were more alike.
- It would be better to have no feelings, since many feelings are painful.
- If there were any way we could make a world without sickness, war, and loneliness, we should make it.
Quote Booklet (Assignment) Answer all Questions on paper.
Throughout A Wrinkle in Time, Mrs. Who quotes many famous people. Create a booklet of the many proverbs she uses and analyze the reasons for which she used each saying. This project will be ongoing and will be turned in after we read chapter 12.
Each page of your booklet must have:
Each page of your booklet must have:
- The quote Mrs. Who uses
- The language the quote was spoken in
- The name of the original speaker
- The page number it was found on
- Your interpretation of how the quote fits into the situation where Mrs. Who spoke it
PowerPoint Presentation
Please create a PowerPoint presentation that discusses the plot, characterization, and theme of A Wrinkle in Time. Your presentation should include the following: (Follow the Rubric I gave out in class :))
- Title Page
- Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Plot: Show the plot of the novel using a plot diagram or a bulleted list
- Characterization: Discuss the characterization of two of the main characters: Meg, Calvin, or Charles Wallace
- Theme: Include a diagram, collage, or writing about the theme of the novel
- One other literary element we have studied in this unit
- Conclusion
Chapter 1 -2
Chapter 1: Mrs. Whatsit
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- wraithlike- ghostlike
- uncanny- weird
- diction- choice of words
- prodigious- amazing
- supine- lying down
- relinquished- gave up
- What has upset Meg today, and what larger issue is upsetting her in general?
- Meg is more than upset. Describe her emotional state before she meets Charles Wallace in the kitchen, including the way she is feeling about herself.
- How are Sandy and Dennys different from the other members of the Murray family?
- What actions of Charles Wallace’s indicate that he has a "sixth sense" when it comes to Meg?
- Why do people believe that Charles Wallace is dumb?
- Never having been told where Charles Wallace lives, how did Mrs. Whatsit find his house?
- What is unusual about the way Charles Wallace speaks to Mrs. Whatsit?
Chapter 2: Mrs. Who
Vocabulary
- warily- cautiously
- avid- eager
- tractable- easy to manage or teach
- antagonistic- hostile
- sagely- wisely
- inadvertently- unintentionally
- placidly- calmly
- dilapidated- broken-down; in terrible condition
- raucous- hoarse and loud
- assimilate- absorb
- Why was Mrs. Murray so alarmed when Mrs. Whatsit mentioned a "tesseract"?
- Why does Meg think Mr. Jenkins’ concern for her is an act?
- Why does Charles Wallace think that learning to read will make school harder for him next year?
- What does Calvin mean when he calls himself a "sport"?
- What do Calvin and Charles Wallace have in common aside from being sports?
- What is peculiar about Mrs. Who’s manner of speech?
- Why have Mrs. Who and Mrs. Whatsit come to the Murry’s area?
Chapter 3 and 4 Questions
Chapter 3: Mrs. Which
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- indignant- angry at an injustice
- gamboled- frolicked
- wryly- grimly and humorously
- morass- swamp, confusion
- tangible- solid; able to be touched
- plaintively- woefully
- dubiously- doubtfully
- Meg has never thought of herself as lucky. Why does Calvin think she is?
- Meg is brillant in math, yet she is practically failing it at school. Why?
- Calvin is popular, athletic, and well-liked by everybody. Explain why he felt so alone and isolated before meeting the Murrys.
- What is Meg's greatest fear about her father and his "top secret" job?
Vocabulary
- corporeal- bodily, related to the body
- inexorable- relentless
- ineffable- indescribable
- ephemeral- fleeting
- monoliths- great stone columns
- resonant- echoing
- dispersed- scattered
- corona- circle of light
- Considering her appearance, in what way is Mrs. Which's name a pun?
- To what do Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which attribute the fact that Mrs. Whatsit has an easier time speaking in words that they do?
- Describe Mrs. Whatsit's true form.
- How are Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace able to breathe in the incredibly thin atmosphere of Uriel's moon?
- Describe how the "shadow" makes Meg feel.
Chapter 3
Chapters 5-6:
Chapter 5: The Tesseract
Vocabulary
Chapter 5: The Tesseract
Vocabulary
- perturbed-greatly disturbed
- dissolution-disintegration
- sonorous-full and impressive in sound
- medium- one who acts as a channel of communication between worlds
- In which dimension do the children, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which travel?
- How does Mrs. Which almost kill the children?
- Why is the Happy Medium reluctant to show the children Earth?
- According to Mrs. Whatsit, why is Earth such a troubled planet?
- What is the Dark Thing?
- Without naming names, who in general have been great fighters of the Dark Thing?
Chapter 6
Chapter 6: The Happy Medium
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- chiding-scolding
- aberration-devaition from the norm
- myopic- near-sighted
- malignant- harmful
- resilience- ability to bounce back
- propitious- favorable
- How did Mrs. Whatsit battle the Dark Thing in the past?
- In what way does witnessing her mother's sadness help Meg?
- When she tessers to Camazotz, what about Meg's experience differs from the other times she has tessered?
- What is Meg's first impression of Camazotz's landscape?
- Before leaving the children on Camazotz, Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Who each give them a gift. What do Charles Wallace, Meg, and Calvin receive from Mrs. Whatsit? What do they receive from Mrs. Who?
- What is strange about the way children play on Camazotz?
- How does Charles Wallace know that the robotic inhabitants of Camazotz are not actually robots?
- L'Engle mentions the "white rabbit" from Alice in Wonderland. What is the literary term for this kind of reference?
Chapter 7
Chapter 7: The Man with Red Eyes
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- bravado- faked bravery
- gallivanting- traveling about for pleasure
- diverting- amusing
- tenacity- persistence, determination
- Once they refuse to look at the light over his head, how does the man with red eyes attempt to hypnotize the children?
- Why does Charles Wallace agree to look into the eyes of the man with the red eyes?
- Why is Charles Wallace unable to taste the food on Camazotz?
- How do Charles Wallace's eyes reveal that he has let down his mental guard before the man with red eyes?
Chapter 8
Chapter 8: The Transparent Column
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- connotations: associated meanings
- swivet: extreme agitation
- pedantic: unimaginative; boring
- emanate: come from; flow from
- ominous: foreshadowing evil
- sadist: one who enjoys causing others pain
- sulfurous: hellish
- What does Charles Wallace tell Calvin and Meg about Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which?
- Why does Meg chose not to take Calvin's hand when they follow Charles Wallace down the corridor?
- When force proves unsuccessful, what does Meg suggest that Calvin do toget through to Charles Wallace?
- What does Charles Wallace say that a father is?
- What happens to a citizen of Camazotz who get a cold?
- How does Charles Wallace make the corridor wall disappear?
- According to Charles Wallace, why are all of the people on Camazotz happy?
Chapter 9
Vocabulary:
- insolent: rude
- dais: raised platform
- defer: put off; delay
- omnipotent: all-powerful
- miasma- fog; heavy atmosphere
- What helps Meg to realize that Charles Wallace is not himself?
- To which character in The Tempest does Calvin compare Charles Wallace?
- What do Mrs. Who's glasses enable Meg to do?
- When she is finally reunited with him, how does Meg's father disappoint her?
- What are Meg's chief faults?
Chapter 10
Chapter 10: Absolute Zero
Vocabulary:
Vocabulary:
- corrosive- causing rust; "eating away at"
- assuaged- eased; relieved
- atrophied- wasted away from disuse
- frigid- cold
- fallible- able to be beaten
- How were Calvin, Meg, and Mr. Murrt able to resist IT for as long as they did?
- Why was Mr. Murry on Camazotz?
- What mistake did Charles Wallace make in his dealings with IT?
- Of the scientists experimenting with tessering, Mr. Murry says, "We're children playing with dynamite." What is the literary term for this kind of comparison? (HINT: We discussed this when we talked about the Robert Frost poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" in The Outsiders.)
- How was it decided that, out of all the possible candidates, Mr. Murry would go on the mission to Mars?
- What makes Meg feel that there is "nothing left to hope for"?
Chapter 11
hapter 11: Aunt Beast
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- despondency- despair; hopelessness
- opaque- unable to be seen through
- trepidation- apprehension; fear
- linear- in a line
- temporal- related in time; in time
- pungent- sharp-smelling
- Is Earth a "dark-planet"?
- What concept does Meg have a hard time explaining to Aunt Beast?
- Describe the functions of the beasts' tentacles.
- Why is there no need for color on Ixchel?
- Why does Meg trust the beasts more than she trusts Calvin and her father?
- To what does Aunt Beast attribute Meg's harsh and impatient attitude toward Mr. Murry?
- How does Calvin describe Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which to the beasts?
Chapter 12
Vocabulary:
- exuberance- joy, enthusiasm
- ceased- stopped
- reiterating- repeating
- vestige- trace
- appallingly- dismayingly; disgustingly
- abruptly- suddenly
- unadulterated- complete; pure
- vulnerable- open to attack
- formidably- impressively; frighteningly
- What about Mrs. Whatsit's manner surprises Meg?
- Why does it have to be Meg that goes to Camazotz to rescue Charles Wallace?
- How do Calvin and Mr. Murry respond to the idea that it must be Meg who goes to Camazotz?
- According to Mrs. Whatsit, why is life like a sonnet?
- What makes tessering back to Camazotz so risky?
- What does Mrs. Which say that she cannot do for Meg on this journey?
- What does Mrs. Whatsit give Meg before Meg leaves for Camazotz?
- What does IT look like?
- What weapon does Meg use against IT?